Exhibiting device.



RUBEN PALMER JARVIS, F SMITH CENTER, KNSAS, ASSGNR OF rllO-THR'S 'l'.lll ALLOYTIOUS FRED LUTZ .AND ONEJEHRD T0 THE MAN'Y CLORED ELECTEG GURL YANY, .A CORPORATION, 0F BELT, KANSAS.

EXHIBTIENG EEVICE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, RUBEN Pfdsnvis, a citizen of the United States, and s resident of Smith Center, in the county oi Smith and State oit' Kansas, have invented u 'new and Improved Exhibiting llevite7 of which the following is s, full, clear, end exact 'description My invention is en exhibiting' device,. and

l0 it comprises a sign board or plete beving e row of illuminating devices along itstcp and bottom, and bearing on its front face the things to be exhibited. These things may of course be letters or pictures, or any l5 form of representation which is useful for the sdvertis'crs purpose.

Reference is to be had to the accompany-- ing ,drawings forming a part of this sneeiiication, in which the seme characters of reference indicate the seme perte Lin :ill the views.

Figure 1 is e vfront view of my improved exhibiting device partly broken sway at the top top'show the arrangement ol lamps behind the shield or hood g, Fig., 2 is a vertical transverse section of my "improved sign zplnte; Fig. 3 is e vertical `sectiornil Viewv teken .through the center of one of therellector shields., and showing,r the manner in 801 which the light is directed thereby egeinst the face of the sign plate; Figi l' is u top View of two adjacent illuxninstingfdevices, each in operative relation toits coi'nbinedv shield and reiector; Fig. 5 is a front view of the structure illustrated on Fig. d, and Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional view show'- ing the roughened and mirrored rear surface of one of the objects to be exhibited "carried'by the sign plate. l/ l On the drawings, the. sign plete of my limproved exhibiting device is indicated by lthe numeral 1, and the top and bottom 'ff-,ward the face of the plete l, as shown et 4:

ind 4:. The sign plate 'l should be of metal, Liso that lthe top sind bottom edges een be bent into the form of hoods shaped as above described, but it is obvious that I may use -smother material in making the sign plete l.

" The upper row of lamps is indicated .by fthe numeral 6, and the lower row of lamps V- edges of this sign plate are over-turnedto- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application lerl Merch l, i911.

Patented (let. i3, Slld. serial No. e1 Lees.

by the numeral 6. 'lfhese linups are suniorted by the upper end-lower edge ol the sign plete or the bent'over top and bottoni of the sign plete, and the iii-turned sides of the hoods assist in directing' the rays of light against the fece of the sign plate. 0n this are secured, for exemple by cement 5a, the characters or other objects to be exhibited, which, in 'the iorm shown on the drewings, are letters, indica-ted by the numeral 5. These letters are made of transparent and preferably highly refractive lglass, and the bock ci each letter is ground with carbo rundum powder or other suitable substehce The back of @zich letter is first ground with 'line powder and then seversl more tlines with powder that is successively conrser. This forms rough or granular mirrored suricc on the beck of euch letter, and this surluce is mirrored by costing it with inercury or other highly reliective substance, cure being; teiten to lill thoroughly each little inter-slice or pittingr formed during the process oi grinding. .ln consequence, light passing through the :front oi' each ot the glass letters trom whatever angle is retracted rsnol reliected, :ind re-reracted from the btt-elf there of :ind dillused practically in ell directions* n The illuminating devices are shown :is being 'formed of incandescent; electric lambs, and l combine the sume by using red, yellow,

blue and white globes, arranged in the,

order named, from one end of the sign to the other., each of these rows of colored lamps beingsW seperately connected to s circuit closer or iissher. Esch incendescent bulb is provided with s. combined shield end rellector, indicated es a whole by the numerel 7, which prevents each lamp from interfering with the rays of :i did'erent color emitted by its immediate-neighbor, end st the rseme time causes the rays of multicolored light to fall upon the letters 5 in s proper manner. To this end each of the reflector shields is formed with e closed.-

that ere necessary to 'produce eli the desirav, V able colors by di'lierently,eoinbming them.

However, I may use any combination of colored globe, such as green, violet and orange red.

Eachreflector shield consists of a bottom which slopes outward and downward, as shown at 9, and terminates in upright sides S. These sides liare outward near the top, as vshown by the numeral 9, and the sides S with their iared top portions 9 are curved around the illuminating devices, as shown at l0, so as to form a continuous reflecting surface at the rear of the illuminating devices. .'lhe rays of light emanating from each of the illuminating devices are all reiccted upward, some from the flaring top 10, and some from the bottom 9 and sides 8, and the in-turned sides of the hoods 2 and 2 assist the reflector shield 7 to cause all of the light to fall upon .the face of the sign plate and illuminate the letters or other characters thereon. At the saine time the rays of light emanating from one illuminating device cannot be retracted or reflected by a ,different coloredL globe adjacent the same. The above is the preferable form o I reflector used, although I may use other rellectors Vtor preventinginterference of one colored lamp by a diierent colored lamp.

YVhen all the illuminating devices are turned on, the rays of different colors striking the granular backs of the letters are diffused in every direction, and the light appears White to the eye of the observer. This is because the colors, employed are blended in their proper proportions by the reflecting surfaces formed on the backs of the letters in the manner above described. A sign constructed in this Way can be used in `the day time Without illumination, and at night, when the electric energy is turned on, the letters are discernible at a very acute angle, because nearly all of the light emitted by the illuminating devices is utilized.

As stated above, I connect all the dilerent colored lamps separately to a liasher, and I can arrange to illuminate them either separately or together. For example, I can keep all the lamps permanently illuminated, or I can cause all of them to flash at regular intervals. I can also turn on one color and then another, in order to attract attention to the sign; or I can flash two colors at one time, the rays ot' light being' blended and mixed after being throvvn from the sign upon the eye of the observer. I may also cause the lamps to illuminate in succession, passing from. one end of the sign. to the other, by connecting each light separately to the flasher; or I may flash one color at the top and another color at the bottom, or a combination of two colors at 'the top and a diilerent combination ot two colors nt the bottom. `When dilterent colors are flashed in this way the light need not be strong, as the contrast intensifies, and thus considerable economy in the consumption of electric current can be obtained. In.fact,ydi1"ferent colors can be combined in a great. variety of Ways in addition to the few mentioned above, according to the choice or convenience of the user. p I can of course change the let- `ters onthe sign and replace them by other letters to form almost any Word or sentence, and I may attach to the face of the sign plate to'be illuminated, things other than letters,'such as figures or pictures.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

An exhibiting device comprising a. sign plate having means for forming a hood locatedalong an edge of the same, a plurality otilluminating lamps arranged in groups, the members o1 each group being adapted to emit light of different colors, said lamps being supported in position to be covered by said hood, means adjacent each individual lamp for throwin the light emitted thereby upon the lace of tie sign plate, and for preventina the rays oli' light'einitted b one lamp 'rom reflecting from a lamp adjacent thereto, said lastnamed means heilig open at the top and the side adjacent the sign plate and being arranged to inclose each 'lamp except on top and on the side adjacent the sign plate, and objects carried upon the face of the sign plate to be exhibited.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of tvvo subscribing Witnesses.

RUBEN PALMER JARVIS. llVitnesses:

J. E. KERN, T. C. Banaan. 

